Tari gripped the strap of her bag so hard her knuckles turned white. She refused to put the Spectrum goggles back on. She had seen enough. The goggles didn't just show heat or night vision; they peeled back the skin of the world. Nature blocked certain electromagnetic wavelengths for a reason. Humans weren't meant to see the flicker—the restless, unbound spirits of things that had died on this island but refused to leave.
To Tari, they looked like static on an old TV, dancing around the living like hungry gnats. It wasn't a superpower or a cool gadget. It was a curse. She realized then that the island wasn't just a place of monsters; it was a graveyard that had forgotten how to stay quiet.
She followed Merlin deeper into the archive. He hummed a jaunty, out-of-tune melody that set her teeth on edge. He moved with a skip in his step, as if he weren't walking through a house of horrors. He stopped in front of a heavy iron door and turned a massive brass wheel.
"Welcome, Tari"
Merlin said, his voice echoing. "To the Pit of Shame."
As the door groaned open, a wall of sound hit her. It wasn't a single noise, but a chaotic chorus. There were high-pitched screams that sounded almost human, wet clicking sounds like giant insects, and the constant, rhythmic scraping of metal against metal. The air here was thick and tasted like ozone and rotting meat. But wait, wasn't it the same place they left few hours ago to the archives, was reality been warped around this space. She could recognize some cages they passed when coming,but the path seemed unfamiliar.
" But Mr. Merlin, we've been here before , haven't we ?" Tari asked rather skeptically. Merlin beamed a cunning smile
" Of course, it's still the Pit of Shame, Tari, but a backdoor, makes the view different,right ? Now come on "
Merlin advanced the aisle. Tari frowned , was the 'Welcome To The pit Of Shame' part really necessary if they had been here before. Merlin's begun to show the bad attitude of a terrible con artist, and it made Tari furious in her terrified state.
Tari kept her eyes forward, but in her peripheral vision, she saw something move behind a glass wall. It looked like a Gorgon—a mass of writhing gray snakes for hair and skin that looked like wet stone, but it wasn't like the Phantom thing she saw on the glass confinement.She gasped and turned her head, but it was gone. Just an empty tank with a few streaks of slime on the glass.
"They're shy,"
Merlin chuckled, noticing her jump. "Or maybe they're just waiting for you to blink. Female Gorgons, or should I say , Medusa."
Without the goggles, the creatures weren't glowing with strange auras. They were just gray, mindless things, clawing at their cages in the dark.
"Lesson learned," Tari whispered to herself. "No more goggles. Science isn't fun when the behind-the-scenes looks like hell."
She watched Merlin. He was a science freak in the worst way possible, with a touch of madness . He had the brain of a genius but the heart of a bored child pulling the legs off a spider. He seemed to genuinely enjoy the misery around him, as if the screams were part of a symphony only he could hear.
As they walked, Tari tried to distract herself by talking. She told him about the beach, the Hounds with their breath that smelled like a swamp, the incident at the Cave of the Stone Gates, and how Axle had appeared like a ghost to save them.
Merlin didn't look impressed. He didn't even look concerned. He just nodded and scribbled notes in a tiny, leather-bound book. His pen moved fast, the scratching sound adding to the noise of the Pit.
"No one comes to the Pit twice, Tari,"
Merlin said, flashing a mean, white-toothed smile. "Not even Kenna. The great warrior, the Valkyrie of the South, usually loses her lunch before we get past the first row of cages. She has the muscles, but she doesn't have the stomach for the reality down here." Who'd want to come back here when everything they believed was a lie hid under the earth.
He stopped at the end of a long metal walkway. Below them was a massive trench filled with what looked like scrap metal and pulsing blue wires. At the center sat a tower topped with a device that looked like a jagged satellite dish.
"Magnetic levitation,"
Merlin bragged, spreading his arms wide like a stage magician. "By controlling the magnetic field, I can move objects that weigh tons with a single finger. Laymen call it magic, pseudoscience. I call them idiots. It's pure science—or metaphysics, if you want to be fancy. There's nothing pseudo about science, you just haven't tuned to the right frequency . But really, it's just about being the loudest voice in the room.
HISSSSS!!
A sound like a steam pipe bursting erupted from a glass box just inches from Tari's ear. She shrieked and fell back against the railing. Inside the box, a Titanoboa—a snake the size of a city bus—had slammed its head against the reinforced glass. Its scales were a dull, mossy green, and its eyes were like twin yellow torches, fixed directly on her.
The glass didn't break, but it cracked. The snake stayed there, its forked tongue flickering against the surface as if it could taste her fear through the barrier.
"Careful, little bird,"
Merlin laughed, his shoulders shaking. He didn't even look at the beast. "She hasn't eaten in a week. She thinks of you look like a very loud, very annoying light snack."
Tari didn't wait for a second warning. She scrambled up the ladder at the end of the walkway, her boots slipping on the cold metal rungs. She didn't look back until she reached the upper lab, lunging through the hatch into the open room.
The air here was slightly better, but it still carried the heavy, cloying scent of the island's monsters. Something nearby was steaming, making a rhythmic thump-hiss sound.
"There you are. Right on schedule,"
Merlin said, appearing at the top of the ladder with terrifying speed .
He walked over to a machine that looked like a cross between a vintage car engine and a medical autoclave. It was decorated with brass meters, copper pipes, and glass gauges filled with bubbling liquid.
"The Lazarus Potion,"
Merlin said, his voice dropping to a whisper of genuine pride. "Our very own Mirakuru."
"What is a Lazarus Potion, Mr. Merlin?"
Tari asked, her breath finally coming back to her.
"It is a byproduct of the Seraphim Orchid," Merlin explained. He picked up a long silver spoon and scooped a bit of liquid from a bubbling vat. It was a glowing, electric green-blue, thick like honey. "The orchid is a parasite. It feeds on the life force of the jungle. We brew it, test it, dilute it, and wait. It takes a month to make a single pint."
He held the spoon up to the light. "But this... this is a miracle. It heals wounds in seconds. It can knit a shattered bone back together or stop a heart from failing. In Jotunheim, this is the only thing that keeps us from being wiped out. I've seen men regrow skin after being burned by dragon-fire. Hehe. I bet I could grow a whole new Tari from just a single arm if I had enough of this."
Tari felt a cold shiver go down her spine. The way he said "hehe" wasn't friendly. It was the sound of someone who had seen too much death to care about the living anymore. People respected Merlin because they had to, not because they liked him. He was the only one who could keep them in one piece, or so Tari thought.
"Here, Tari. Keep this."
Merlin handed her a small silver bottle. The lid was screwed on tight, and the metal was surprisingly heavy. "Lazarus Potion. You'll need it. Everyone in the crew keeps one in their pocket. It's the difference between a scar and a grave."
He leaned in, his eyes suddenly sharp and cold. "If what you told me about the gates is true, then we still have a little time. The forces haven't fully awakened yet. The Circle is just beginning, maybe it required a catalyst,like a human to activate.Axle was smart to step in before the island took hold of your sister. I'll do my own research to see what pattern the island is following this time. It likes to repeat itself, you see."
" What's a Circle, Mr. Merlin" Tari asked , as she tucked the silver bottle into her pocket.
" Hmm, something we'll worry about when the time is right, Tari" Merlin chuckled.
He placed a heavy hand on her shoulder. "But you... you are a liability. You are weak. You have the rust of weakness on your soul. We need to beat it out of you. You must become one with the island, a warrior that defies its laws ,or it will eat you for breakfast. I'll send for you when I think you're ready to be useful. For now, go train with your crew. Show them you aren't just a shadow. Have you a codename yet?"
"They call me Ember,"
Tari muttered. "But I don't like it. It sounds like a character in a bad school play."
"Names are masks,"
Merlin snapped, his humor vanishing. "The island is a predator. If it knows your true name, it has a hook in you. It can use your past as a weakness. For now, Ember is fine. Your codename reflects your inner self . You are a spark, whether you grow into a fire or go out in a puff of smoke is up to you."
He reached into a cluttered drawer and pulled out a thick journal. The cover was made of dark, polished wood, and the pages were heavy and white. "Take this. Keep a record of what you see. We all have one. It's for memory's sake. On this island, your mind is the first thing to go."
Tari took the book and bowed slightly.
"Thank you... Sir Merlin."
Merlin barked a laugh.
"Sir? Mister? I don't care. Just Merlin. Give my regards to Aisha. I hear she is a sweet girl. I look forward to visiting her at Asgard soon."
Tari almost laughed. Aisha? Sweet? Wait until he meets her. She'll wear him down and tear his sanity into pieces in five minutes.
"She's a bug. I bet she'll love your Pit of Shame and appreciate all the fancy science stuffs you have here better than I do, Merlin,"
"I suppose she is," Merlin smiled.
"I can't wait. Now, be on your way. Be careful. The island is crafty. And tell no one what we talked about. We don't know who to trust yet."
He waved her away and turned back to his orchids, mumbling something about Over-fermentation.
Tari walked out of the lab, her bag feeling heavier but her heart a bit lighter. She actually liked Merlin, despite the Pit of Shame and the sarcasm. He was honest about how terrible everything was.
She walked down the long, dimly lit passage toward the Lunatics camp, almost whistling. She had tea, she had a miracle potion, a cool book, and a glimpse of the terrifying, unseen world .
But her good mood was shattered the moment she stepped into the camp.
Mira was waiting. She was already packed, her tactical vest tight and her eyes like flint. She wasn't looking at the scenery; she was staring at her watch.
"Six hours, Ember,"
Mira said. Her voice was a low, dangerous growl. "Six hours you spent playing in the dirt with the old man while we sat here waiting like idiots."
"He was asking me a few things —"
"I don't care if he was asking you the meaning of life!"
Mira stepped closer, her face inches from Tari's. Mira was beautiful, but in her anger, she looked like a statue carved out of ice. "Fun time is over. You think this is a field trip? You think because Merlin gave you a shiny book, you're special?"
Mira grabbed Tari's arm and shoved her toward the gate. "The sun is moving. We have to reach Gorgon's Cove before dark. If we are caught in the open after the sun goes down, we'll be fighting Lycans and Zombie Bears. And I am not dying because you wanted to look at snakes in jars."
What's this cheeky attitude all of a sudden, acting all bossy. Mira wasn't that too older than she was, maybe a few years. Maybe the military didn't treat age gap like regular people do , just ranks . Tari wanted to talk back, but the look in Mira's eyes stopped her. There was no warmth there. Mira looked like she would gladly snap Tari's arm if it meant moving five minutes faster. To Tari, Mira was suddenly more terrifying than any of the monsters in the Pit.
The back gates of the Den creaked open. They didn't lead to the main path, but to a narrow, overgrown trail that wound south through the heavy ferns.
Tari looked back at the camp one last time. She missed the safety of the walls already. She wished she could go back to Lunatic's Pit and watch a Franken-bull being born—anything was better than being stuck in the jungle with a woman who clearly hated her.
As they stepped into the shadow of the trees, the jungle went silent. The birds stopped chirping. The wind died down.
"Keep your mouth shut and your eyes open,"
Mira whispered, her hand moving to the hilt of her blade. "Something is already tracking us."
Tari felt a cold sweat break out on her neck. She reached into her pocket and gripped the silver bottle. They were
just a few kilometers away from the Den, and the island is already hunting them .